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Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
DESIGN OF WORK SYSTEMS
PRODUCT & SERVICE DESIGN
Learning Objectives:
On the completion of this section you should be able to:
• Define product and service design
• Classify the factors that influence design decisions
• Identify product life cycles
• Describe the job design process
• Explain the concept of Organisational Effectiveness (Workstudy)
• Assess hazards and conduct risk assessments
• Develop a Visual Workplace
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Design of Work Systems Product and Service Design
Product design can be defined as the idea generation, concept development, testing
and manufacturing or implementation of a product (physical object or service). Product
Designers conceptualize and evaluate ideas, making them tangible through products in
a more systematic approach. The role of a product designer encompasses many
characteristics of the marketing manager, product manager, industrial designer and
design engineer. The term is sometimes equated with industrial design.
The role of the product designer combines art, science and technology to create
tangible three-dimensional goods. This evolving role has been facilitated by digital tools
that allow designers to communicate, visualize and analyze ideas in a way that would
have taken greater manpower in the past.
Skills needed
Product designers are equipped with the skills needed to bring products from
conception to market. They should have the ability to manage design projects, and
subcontract areas to other sectors of the design industry. Aesthetics is considered
important in product design but designers also deal with important aspects including
technology, ergonomics, usability, human factors and
material technology.
As with most of the design fields the idea for the design of a
product arises from a need and has a use.
Product Design Specification (PDS) is a document that
specifies the product to be designed. Once it's established,
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
it acts as the mantle or cloak the envelopes all the subsequent stages in the design
core. The PDS thus acts as the control for the total design activity, because it places
the boundaries on the subsequent designs. Conceptual design is carried out within the
envelope of PDS, and this applies to all succeeding stages until the end of the core
activity.
PDS is itself a dynamic rather that static document. It is an evolutionary,
comprehensive written document that has evolved to match the characteristics of the
final product. In some cases the PDS is a contractual document, thus implications of
proposed changes upon the contract should be considered.
A comprehensive PDS can be prepared during the initial stages of the design process
using the following tools:
o Market research
o Competition analysis
o Literature searching
o Patent extracting
To be successful, you have the systematic and thorough, paying meticulous attention to
detail from the beginning to the end of the design activity.
Factors Influencing Design
Performance
Performance should be fully defined, i.e., how fast, how slow, how often, continuously
vs. discontinuous, energy requirements- electrical, hydraulic,
pneumatic, tolerance, etc. A common failing in specification
performance is to ask for the ultimate, rather than which is
obtainable from economic point of view.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
In practice the client may be amazed that the product emerging from their specifications
cost too much.
Environment
All aspects of the product’s likely environment should be considered and investigated.
These include:
Materials
humidity
temperature
gravity forces
pressure
cleanlinesscorrosion
noise
insects
vibration
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
The choice of materials for a particular product is invariably left to the design team.
However, if special materials are needed, they should be specified quoting the
appropriate standards.
Product Life Span
Some indication of the life of a product is a marketable entity. Is it likely to remain in
production for 2 years or 20 years?
The answer is critical as it can affect the design approach and interacts with the market
and competition, tooling policy and manufacturing facility and the like.
Ergonomics
All products have, to some degree, a man-machine interface, certainly during
manufacture and if not directly usage, again at the time when maintenance is required.
Customer
It is essential to obtain first - hand information on customer likes, dislikes, preferences
and prejudices. Face-to-face discussion, question and answer, an examination of
competitor’s trends and specifications are all useful inputs to the specification.
Quality and reliability
A company must assure adequate feedback of any failure analysis to the design
team. Mean time before failure (MTBF) and mean times before repair (MTBR) are
familiar expressions in this field.
Shelf life (storage)
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Shelf life must be specified at the outset and the means to
combat decay considered, otherwise rusty gearboxes,
perished rubber components, seized bearings, defective
linings, corrosion and general decay will occur.
Processes
If special processes are to be used during manufacture, they should be defined for
example, plating specifications, wiring specifications.
Time-scale
What is the time-scale for the project as a whole?
Testing
Most products require some form of testing after manufacture, either in factory, on site
or both. The testing is related to performance.
Service Design
This is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and
material components of a service, in order to improve its quality, the interaction between
service provider and customers and the customer's experience. The increasing
relevance of the service sector, both in terms of people employed and economic
importance, requires services to be accurately designed. The design of the service may
involve a re-organization of the activities performed by the service provider (Back office)
and/or the redesign of time and place in which customers come in contact with the
service (Front office).
Product Life Cycles
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
The product life cycle goes through many phases, involves many professional
disciplines, and requires many skills, tools and processes. Product life cycle (PLC) has
to do with the life of a product in the market with respect to business/commercial costs
and sales measures
The different stages in a product life cycle are:
Market introduction stage
o cost high
o sales volume low
o no/little competition - competitive manufacturers watch for
acceptance/segment growth losses
o demand has to be created
o customers have to be prompted to try the product
Growth stage
o costs reduced due to economies of scale
o sales volume increases significantly
o profitability
o public awareness
o competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing
market
o prices to maximize market share
Mature stage
o Costs are very low as you are well
established in market & no need for
publicity.
o sales volume peaks
o increase in competitive offerings
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
o prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
o brand differentiation, feature diversification, as each player seeks to
differentiate from competition with "how much product" is offered
o profits decrease
Decline or Stability stage
o costs become counter-optimal
o sales volume decline or stabilize
o prices, profitability diminish
o profit becomes more a challenge of production/distribution efficiency than
increased sales
Generating New Products
Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using
a SWOT analysis (Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities;
Threats), Market and consumer trends, company's Research &
Development department, competitors, focus groups, employees,
salespeople, corporate spies and trade shows.
Most industry leaders see new product development as a proactive process where
resources are allocated to identify market changes and seize upon new product
opportunities before they occur (in contrast to a reactive strategy in which nothing is
done until problems occur or the competitor introduces an innovation). Many industry
leaders see new product development as an ongoing process (referred to as continuous
development) in which the entire organization is always looking for opportunities.
Because the new product development process typically requires both engineering and
marketing expertise, cross-functional teams are a common way of organizing projects.
The team is responsible for all aspects of the project, from initial idea generation to final
commercialization, and they usually report to senior management. In those industries
where products are technically complex, development research is typically expensive,
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
and product life cycles are relatively short, strategic alliances among several
organizations helps to spread the costs, provide access to a wider skill set, and speeds
the overall process. New Product Developm
Job Design
Job design refers to the way that a set of tasks, or an entire job, is organized. Job
design helps to determine:
• what tasks are done,
• how the tasks are done,
• how many tasks are done, and
• in what order the tasks are done.
It takes into account all factors which affect the work, and organizes the content and
tasks so that the whole job is less likely to be a risk to the employee. Job design
involves administrative areas such as:
• job rotation,
• job enlargement,
• task/machine pacing,
• work breaks, and
• working hours.
(Product & Service Design)
and product life cycles are relatively short, strategic alliances among several
organizations helps to spread the costs, provide access to a wider skill set, and speeds
New Product Development follows the following stages:
Job design refers to the way that a set of tasks, or an entire job, is organized. Job
how the tasks are done,
how many tasks are done, and
tasks are done.
It takes into account all factors which affect the work, and organizes the content and
tasks so that the whole job is less likely to be a risk to the employee. Job design
involves administrative areas such as:
and product life cycles are relatively short, strategic alliances among several
organizations helps to spread the costs, provide access to a wider skill set, and speeds
ent follows the following stages:
Job design refers to the way that a set of tasks, or an entire job, is organized. Job
It takes into account all factors which affect the work, and organizes the content and
tasks so that the whole job is less likely to be a risk to the employee. Job design
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
A well designed job will encourage a variety of 'good' body positions, have reasonable
strength requirements, require a reasonable amount of mental activity, and help foster
feelings of achievement and self-esteem.
How can job design help with the organization of work?
Job design principles can address problems such as:
• work overload,
• work underload,
• repetitiveness,
• limited control over work,
• isolation,
• shiftwork,
• delays in filling vacant positions,
• excessive working hours, and
• limited understanding of the whole job process.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Good job design:
Good job design accommodates employees' mental and physical characteristics by
paying attention to:
• muscular energy such as work/rest schedules or pace of work, and
• mental energy such as boring versus extremely difficult tasks.
Furthermore it:
• allows for employee input. Employees should have the option to vary activities
according to personal needs, work habits, and the circumstances in the
workplace.
• gives employees a sense of accomplishment.
• includes training so employees know what tasks to do and
how to do them properly.
• provides good work/rest schedules.
• allows for an adjustment period for physically demanding
jobs.
• provides feedback to the employees about their
performance.
• minimizes energy expenditure and force requirements.
• balances static and dynamic work.
Job design is an ongoing process. The goal is to make adjustments as conditions or
tasks change within the workplace.
Approaches to job design include:
Job Enlargement: changes the jobs to include more and/or different tasks. Job
enlargement should add interest to the work but may or may not give employees more
responsibility.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Job Rotation: moves employees from one task to another. It distributes the group tasks
among a number of employees.
Job Enrichment: allows employees to assume more responsibility, accountability, and
independence when learning new tasks or to allow for greater participation and new
opportunities.
Work Design (Job Engineering): Work design allows employees to see how the work
methods, layout and handling procedures link together as well as the interaction
between people and machines.
Organizational Effectiveness (Workstudy)
Organizational effectiveness also known as Work Study is the systematic examination
of the methods of carrying out activities so as to improve the effective use of resources
and to set up standards of performance for the activities being carried out. Work Study
aims at examining the way an activity is being carried out, simplifying or modifying the
method of operation to reduce unnecessary or excess work, or the wasteful use of
resources and setting time studies for performing that activity. Work Study comprises of
two categories, Work Measurement and Method Study.
Think Point
In almost all organizations, we are bound to find a certain percentage of
employees either over-utilized or under-utilized. As an Operations Manager, explain
how you would establish a “fair day’s” work for your staff.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Basic work content or a product or operation
The basic work content is the time taken to manufacture a product or to perform the
operation if the design or specification was perfect, or if th
was perfectly carried out. Therefore the basic work content is the irreducible minimum
time required producing one unit of output. This is obviously a perfect condition, which
seldom, if ever, occurs in practice.
Ψ Work content means the amount of work contained in a given product or a process,
measured in work or machine hours.
Ψ A work hour is the labour for one person for one hour.
Ψ A machine hour is the running of a machine for one hour.
(Product & Service Design)
Basic work content or a product or operation
The basic work content is the time taken to manufacture a product or to perform the
operation if the design or specification was perfect, or if the process of the operation
was perfectly carried out. Therefore the basic work content is the irreducible minimum
time required producing one unit of output. This is obviously a perfect condition, which
seldom, if ever, occurs in practice.
ans the amount of work contained in a given product or a process,
measured in work or machine hours.
A work hour is the labour for one person for one hour.
A machine hour is the running of a machine for one hour.
The basic work content is the time taken to manufacture a product or to perform the
e process of the operation
was perfectly carried out. Therefore the basic work content is the irreducible minimum
time required producing one unit of output. This is obviously a perfect condition, which
ans the amount of work contained in a given product or a process,
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Excess work content
The following can increase work content:
Ψ Poor design and frequent design changes
The product may be designed in such a way that it may require a large number of non-
standard parts causing lengthy times to assemble. Excessive variety of products and
lack of standardization means that work has to be produced in small batches, with time
lost as the operator adjusts and shifts from one batch to the next.
Ψ Waste of Materials
The components of the products may be so designed that an excessive amount of
material has to be removed to bring them to their final shape.
The uses of work measurement
We use work measurement to:
⇒ Compare the efficiency of different methods.
⇒ Balance the work of team members.
⇒ Determine the ideal number of machines a worker can operate.
⇒ Provide the basis for planning and control.
⇒ Choose an improved layout for process planning and for establishing a Just-in-
Time system.
⇒ Provide information for tender estimates, selling prices and delivery dates.
⇒ Set standards for machine utilization and labour performance that can be used
for incentive schemes.
⇒ Provide information for labour cost control and to enable standard costs to be
fixed and maintained.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Work measurement techniques
These include:
Activity Sampling
(Work Sampling)
•is a method of
finding a percentage
occurrence of a
certain activity by
statistically
sampling and
random
observations. The
basis of activity
sampling is to
observe numerous
machines or
workers at random
intervals, noting
which are working
and which are idle.
The more frequent
the observations,
the more accurate
the results.
Time Studies
•A time study
procedure involves
timing a sample of a
worker’s
performance and
using it to set a
standard.
(Product & Service Design)
Work measurement techniques
Time Studies
A time study
procedure involves
timing a sample of a
worker’s
performance and
using it to set a
standard.
Predetermined Time
Studies
•This is an approach
that divides manual
work into small
basic elements that
have been
established with
widely accepted
times.
Synthesis
•A work
measurement
technique used to
build up the time
for a task at a
defined rate of work
using previously
established
elemental times.
Synthesis
measurement
technique used to
build up the time
for a task at a
defined rate of work
using previously
established
elemental times.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Method study
Method Study is the systematic recording and critical examination of ways of doing
things in order to make improvements. The basic approach to method study consists of
the following steps:
� Select the work to be studied and define its boundaries.
� Record the relevant facts about the job by direct observation and collect such
additional data as may be needed from appropriate sources.
� Examine the way the job is being performed and challenge its purpose, place,
sequence and method of performance.
� Develop the most practical, effective and economical
method, seeking help from those concerned.
� Evaluate the various alternatives to developing a new
improved method. Cost out these alternatives to see which
yields the best results.
� Define the new method in a clear manner and
communicate it to all concerned – workers, supervisors,
management, etc.
� Install the new method as standard practice and train persons involved in applying it.
� Maintain the new method and install control procedures to ensure that the previous
method has been changed.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Working Conditions
Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting
the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. As a
secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers,
customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are
impacted by the workplace environment.
The reasons for establishing good occupational safety and health standards are
frequently identified as:
• Moral - An employee should not have to risk injury at work, nor should others
associated with the work environment.
• Economic - many governments realize that poor occupational safety and health
performance results in cost to the State (e.g. through social security payments to
the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of the "employability"
of the worker). Employing organisations also sustain costs in the event of an
incident at work (such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation
time, lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce, from customers and from
the wider community).
• Legal - Occupational safety and health requirements may be reinforced in civil
law and/or criminal law; it is accepted that without the extra "encouragement" of
potential regulatory action or litigation, many organisations would not act upon
their implied moral obligations.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Hazards, risks, outcomes
The terminology used in Occupational; Health & Safety generally includes:
• A hazard is something that can cause harm if not controlled.
• The outcome is the harm that results from an uncontrolled hazard.
• A risk is a combination of the probability that a particular outcome will occur and
the severity of the harm involved.
Risk assessment
Modern occupational safety and health legislation usually demands that a risk
assessment be carried out prior to making an intervention. This assessment should:
• Identify the hazards
• Identify all affected by the hazard and how
• Evaluate the risk
• Identify and prioritise the required actions
The calculation of risk is based on the likelihood or probability of the harm being
realised and the severity of the consequences. This can be expressed mathematically
as a quantitative assessment (by assigning low, medium and high likelihood and
severity with integers and multiplying them to obtain a risk factor, or qualitatively as a
description of the circumstances by which the harm could arise.
Physical hazards include:
• Slips and trips
• Falls from height
• Workplace transport
• Dangerous machinery
• Electricity
• Heavy metals
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Physical agents include:
• noise
• vibration
• ionizing radiation
• heat stress and cold stress
• lighting
• barotrauma (hypobaric / hyperbaric pressure)
Chemical agents, include
• solvents
• biological agents
Psychosocial issues include:
• Work related stress, whose causal factors include excessive working time and
overwork
• Violence from outside the organisation
• Bullying (sometimes called mobbing) which may
include emotional, verbal, and Sexual
harassment
Other issues include:
• Reproductive hazards
• Work environment factors, such as temperature, humidity, lighting, welfare
• Avoidance of musculoskeletal disorders by the employment of good ergonomic
design
• Particulate inhalation
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
The Visual Workplace
The Visual Workplace is a system for improving productivity, safety, quality, on-time
delivery, profits and employee moral by implementing "visual controls."
Visual controls make working areas user friendly by answering questions; identifying
equipment, materials and locations; describing actions and procedures; and providing
safety warnings and precaution information. Visual controls help employees avoid
wasting time by giving them the information they need, where and when they need it.
A Visual Workplace begins with implementing a Five S program.
5S, abbreviated from the Japanese words Seiri, Seiton, Seison, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke,
are simple but effective methods to organize the workplace.
The 5S, translated into English are: housekeeping, workplace organization, cleanup,
keep cleanliness, and discipline. They can be defined as follows:
• Housekeeping. Separate needed items from unneeded items. Keep only what is
immediately necessary item on the shop floor.
• Workplace Organization. Organize the workplace so that needed items can be
easily and quickly accessed. A place for everything and everything in its place.
• Cleanup. Sweeping, washing, and cleaning everything around working area
immediately.
• Cleanliness. Keep everything clean for a constant state of readiness.
• Discipline. Everyone understands, obeys, and practices the rules when in the
plant.
Potential Benefits of 5S
Implementing 5S methods in the plant would help the company to reduce waste hidden
in the plant, improve the levels of quality and safety, reduce the lead time and cost, and
thus, increase company's profit.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Using Visual Workplace techniques involves proper labeling and signage to create a
workplace in which employees have the information they need, understand their role,
and contribute in a positive way to the success of your company.
Establishing a Visual Workplace is not an expensive management tool nor is it difficult
to implement. It involves posting information about the job to be done, the work area
(environment), the equipment and materials to be used, safety and job performance.
Design of Work Systems (Product & Service Design)
© Trevor Naidoo
Explain how you would set up a visual workplace in your department/
organization. Consider what information would you display, where would you locate the
display, how often would you update.
Activity